Judge Keeps Rushmore fireworks on ice for 2021
June 2, 2021
CARSON McCULLOUGH
... Last year, Mount Rushmore played host to an event some suspected it would never hold again: a fireworks display commemorating the United State’s Independence Day. Despite being cancelled indefinitely a decade ago over increased risk of wildfires following a widespread infestation of pine beetles that decimated the local forests, the state’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem landed a deal with the Trump administration to bring the event back for 2020 — with then-President Donald Trump in attendance.
But when the state went back to the Department of the Interior this year to renew the permit to hold the event, the feds denied the request. The National Park Service cited worries over the park itself as well as Covid-19 safety concerns for the employees and visitors in attendance in its decision.
Following the denial in March, Noem quickly filed a lawsuit against Biden administration officials with claims that the government unfairly pulled out of a fair deal struck with the Trump administration and asked the court to reverse the permit denial.
... the judge says the agency was quite upfront regarding its reasoning behind the denial. The park service outlined in a letter to the state the concerns it had for the safety of the park and those in attendance during a pandemic, with the letter noting that last year’s display saw few attendees wearing face coverings at a time when wearing masks is required at national parks whenever social distancing is not an option ...
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-keeps-independence-day-mount-rushmore-fireworks-show-on-ice-for-2021/
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